Tokyo‑inspired Tech Tower: Naver’s Robot‑Ridden HQ
Inside the Seoul Office Where Roombas Rule the Roost
Every weekday at Naver Corp’s brand‑new headquarters near Seoul, the skyline‑piercing building becomes a high‑tech playground. Picture a fleet of about forty sleek robots—dubbed Rookies—sculpting pathways through the office like robotic minions from a sci‑fi blockbuster. They ferry parcels, hand out Starbucks coffees, and occasionally pause for a “robotic coffee break.”
Infrastructure That’s Ultra‑Fast
- Each Rook’s brain lives in the cloud. Psyche it, whether it’s intel or grocery orders.
- Signals sparkle over a private, super‑fast 5G network, ensuring the robots never lag behind.
- There’s a dedicated, see‑through elevator just for them, whisking the swarms asynchronously across all 28 floors.
Tech‑Driven Talent, but Return on Investment… Still a Work‑in‑Progress
While the Rookies hum along smoothly, Naver’s top brass adopts a “mission caution” stance. The robot venture already pulled in a hefty $550 million (S$756 million), but 5G‑related hurdles keep executives from green‑lighting bright future forecasts.
Seok Sang‑ok, the astute CEO of the R&D arm Naver Labs—the brains behind the robot saga—told Reuters, “We’re looking at this as a long‑term marathon, not a sprint.” Financial predictions? Not on the docket.
Why Naver’s Telecom‑Twinned 5G Venture Matters
For context: Naver is the leading search portal in South Korea and a heavyweight on the country’s public market, with a market cap of ~$35 billion. In December, it broke new ground by becoming the first non‑telecom company allowed to run a locally licensed 5G network. That strategic leap spurred the Rookies’ integration into the corporate fabric.
So while the robots are humming along, the real story is about how Naver keeps pushing the envelope on connectivity, even if the money question remains a puzzle. In the big picture, the HQ stands as a testament to South Korea’s tech ambition—and to the day when a coffee‑dropping robot might earn your giggle every morning.
<img alt="" data-caption="Robots using 5G networks prepare delivery services at the Naver 1784 company office in Seongnam, South Korea, on May 13, 2022.
PHOTO: Reuters” data-entity-type=”file” data-entity-uuid=”f1660827-539e-4d4d-ad5e-b6f07398ad88″ src=”/sites/default/files/inline-images/26052022_robots_reuters.jpg”/>
Why Naver Is Treading Cautiously on the Robot Rumble
Naver’s vibe on the robotics scene reflects the reality that big‑bang ideas—like from the shiny promise of 5G—often hit a few annoying roadblocks before they can turn into real‑world profits.
Key stumbling blocks
- Regulatory red tape – Think of autonomous driving laws, safety standards, and the slow‑picking government decisions that can stall rollout.
- Patchy network coverage – Even though 5G is here, the signal is a patchwork quilt; some spots are spotty, especially when you need super‑fast, battle‑ready speeds.
- Incremental tech tweaks – New hardware and software keep creeping in, and telcos have to keep updating them, which isn’t cheap.
South Korea: A Tomfoolery of Growth and Hesitation
Despite being the first Asian country to roll out a full 5G network in 2019, demand remains surprisingly low. Even a tech wizard like Korea can’t convince telcos to pour huge sums into boosting uplinks and downlinks for feats like self‑driving cars.
In short, Naver’s cautious stance isn’t about low optimism. It’s more about the road map to get from shiny gadgets to their actual use, and that path is jam‑packed with hurdles that even a country champion of 5G likes to dodge.
Cost advantage?
Naver’s New Bots: A Budget‑Friendly Take on Robotics
Imagine a robot that’s still learning the ropes—picking up basic tasks, staying in a testing zone, and nailing the basics. Naver calls that a spark of potential, but the real showstopper isn’t its behaviour, it’s its price tag.
Why the Big Deal is “Affordability”
Naver’s C‑level crew are sweet on the idea that, if you can make them cheap enough, the world will actually own them. Even though the company is tight‑lipped about how much a unit costs, they do a classic “value‑math” trick: ditch the heavy hardware inside the robot and let the cloud do the heavy lifting.
Key Cost‑Cutting Moves
- CPU and GPU removed from the chassis – no more on‑board crunching.
- Brain in the Cloud – the robot’s “mind” lives off‑site, pulling in big‑data processing on demand.
- Combined, these two tweaks shave more than $1,500 off each unit.
Seok on 5G Magic
“With 5G’s buttery‑low latency, we can kick the internal computer out of the robot and connect it to limitless cloud power, a no‑size‑limit super‑brain,” said Seok. “It’s like giving the robot a super‑expressway to the cloud.”
So the future of affordable AI‑powered helpers is in the cloud. “Let’s keep the robot light and let the cloud make it do heavy stuff,” Seok’s tagline for a future where robots are as lean as they are smart.
<img alt="" data-caption="An employee points at a screen showing robots using 5G networks at the Naver 1784 company office in Seongnam, South Korea, on May 13, 2022.
PHOTO: Reuters” data-entity-type=”file” data-entity-uuid=”74bccc9a-2f75-40d9-bfab-942819759c6e” src=”/sites/default/files/inline-images/26052022_map_reuters.jpg”/>
Robotics, 5G, and a Data‑Centre‑Dorchary: Naver’s High‑Tech Vision
Imagine a gigantic data‑centre that’s the size of three football fields, humming with a hundred‑thousand servers and powered not by humans, but by a legion of robots. That’s the world Naver is setting out to build this year.
The Robot‑Army on the Rise
- Target: 100 robots on full wing by year‑end.
- Mission: They’ll be the backbone of maintenance, setup, and daily operations at the new centre.
- Target Completed By: 2023.
With a sprawling 300,000 square metres, the facility will rival the biggest data centres owned by tech giants like Microsoft or Apple.
5G—Not Just for Smartphones
Won Choong‑lyol from Naver Labs explained, “5G brings incredible speed and low latency, but the real challenge is adapting it to run robots instead of phones.” He’s confident that no one else is tackling that puzzle yet, and that’s where Naver’s in the game.
In short, Naver is turning the 5G promise into a robot‑friendly, data‑centre‑dominated reality. The future of cloud computing might just be a few wheeled helpers in a vast, humming hall, saying goodbye to the days of human technicians in cramped server rooms.
